Lagos — Akwa Ibom State Governor, Obong Godswill Akpabio, has said Nigeria and indeed Africa are facing what he called socio-economic and political hiccups because of the emphasis of the leaders on certificates and paper qualification.

Akpabio, in a paper entitled: "Exam Ethics: No More a Duty, But a Moral Obligation" he presented at Alisa Hotel, North Ridge, Accra at the weekend as part of the 2009 Exam Ethics Marshals International Conference and Awards, said: "Certificates are good to have. Unfortunately, our countries have tended to place too great an emphasis on formal education and certificates. We tend to forget that so many great men had very little formal education and no college degrees.

"Such men include the great inventor, Thomas Edison; the computer icon, Bill Gates; American Presidents, George Washington, Harry Truman and Abraham Lincoln; and the popular ABC news anchor, who did not even complete high school, Peter Jennings."

He also submitted that the high rate of examination malpractice in Nigeria was one of the direct effects of the emphasis placed on certificates and formal education. But while he agreed that acquiring certificates was a good thing, he insisted that people should be judged by their abilities and skills, rather than by the paper certificates they have acquired.

Akpabio, who was represented at the ceremony by the state Commissioner for Education, Dr. Nsabasi Akpan, also said that examination malpractice had persisted in Nigeria because of what he described as the peculiarities of the society.

"We should not ignore the fact," he noted, "that a student studying architecture and who bribes his way through and obtains his certificate, will one day cause the nation to pick up the bills of his evil ways, in collapsed infrastructure designed by him."

He added: "You cannot hide incompetence in the work environment. This situation breeds what has now come to be termed in Nigeria as 'half-baked graduates'. Graduates who went through school, but whom the school did not go through."

The governor also observed that developing countries were at a crossroads today, because they are lagging behind, with the gap widening between them and the developed countries.

He then queried: "Will we ever catch up? The answer is that the education sector holds the key to bridging the technological gap and to sustainable democracy."

According to him, the quest to liberate Akwa Ibom State's people from poverty prompted his administration to introduce free and compulsory education in both primary and secondary schools, the first anniversary of which was celebrated recently.

He revealed that the policy had led to school enrolment quadrupling, with many child hawkers returning to school.

His words: "To ensure that no fees of any kind are charged by headmasters and principals of primary and secondary schools respectively, we pay them N100 per head for each primary school and N300 per head for each secondary school. Our investment in education also encompasses a massive rehabilitation of all primary and secondary schools in the state. We have so far spent over N30 billion on revamping the education sector."

Impressed that the organisation did not make any financial demand from the state government for giving the award, Akpabio announced a donation of $50,000 "'to enhance exam ethics' fight against examination malpractice."

He bagged the 2009 Exam Ethics Award for Best Practices in Education at a ceremony attended by delegates from 21 African countries.

Also speaking, Ghana's Education Minister, Mr. Alex Tettey-Enyo, admitted that efforts by his ministry to nip the explosive nature of examination malpractice in his country in the bud had not succeeded.

But he pledged support for Exam Ethics International's activities towards promoting best practices in the education sector.

His said, "I believe that a non-governmental organisation like this, which is non-profit and non-partisan with a social responsibility, should be encouraged to correct the wrongs in our schools, societies and organisations. Government [of Ghana] will give them the needed support in carrying out their operations."

He lamented that in spite of the efforts of his government to check the menace of examination malpractices, junior high school candidates in his country had been involved in examination fraud, prompting the West African Examination Council (WAEC) to cancel the papers of those found guilty.

"The situation has compelled the management of WAEC to publish names and photographs of candidates who cheated in the examination through various means," he declared. "Surprisingly, some parents came out to condemn the publication, which I see as unfortunate, if we want our country to have a credible system of exams and certification."